The schematic representation of Variation 2 is as follows:
(20) Variation 2
X: (Speaker A’s mental state is assumed by Speaker B) Y: qíshí clause (an A-event)
In Variation 2, the qíshí clause very often appears as the first part of the sequence, since the X part is usually linguistically non-realized, which stands for Speaker B’s assump-tion about her addressee’s mental state or knowledge. The pattern in Variaassump-tion 2 is used by the speaker to disclose an A-event; namely, a fact previously known only to the speaker herself. In this sense, the qíshí construction is not used to do simple
‘fact-telling’, but rather to do fact-disclosing.7 In other words, what the speaker does when she deploys the qíshí construction is “I know what is on your mind, I know that it is not true, and I will tell you what the truth is.” Since the X part is linguistically unreal-ized, the use of the qíshí construction sounds like a confession if it concerns the veracity of a claim about the speaker herself.
Linguistically, Variation 1 looks quite similar to Variation 2. The differences be-tween these two patterns lie in (1) the X part: in Variation 1 it is shared knowledge (by the community or, at least, by the conversation interlocutors), while in Variation 2, it is assumed by the speaker only (assumption about the addressee’s mental state or knowledge); (2) their social functions and the speaker’s intention: Variation 1 is used by the speaker to disalign with what is claimed or some assumed shared knowledge or be-lief in previous utterances, while Variation 2 is used to disclose an A-event or to do confession when the speaker believes that the addressee does not know what s/he is go-ing to disclose. The typical social function of dogo-ing A-event disclosgo-ing in Variation 2 is illustrated in (21).
(21) Reporter 1 (Rebecca)
473 C: 後來我就強忍著睡眠又出門了.\
hòulái wǒ jiù qiángrěnzhe shuìmián yòu chūmén le.\
474 …那我當時去的地方呢,_
nà wǒ dāngshí qù de dìfāng ne,_
7 The difference between telling a fact and disclosing a fact is that in doing the latter, the speaker has the pre-assumption that her addressee does not know the fact. We therefore identify this as an A-event disclosing.
475 …就是發生這個聯考舞弊案的[考場].\
jiùshì fāshēng zhège liánkǎo wǔbì’àn de [kǎochǎng].\
(5 IUs omitted)
481 C: 我就去找它主任,_
wǒ jiù qù zhǎo tā zhǔrèn,_
482 …大概兩個聊了聊了聊.\
dàgài liǎngge liáoleliáole liáo.\
483 R: …聊這個過程.\
liáo zhège guòchéng.\
484 C: …聊這個過程.\
liáo zhège guòchéng.\
485 …然後主任又跟我講說,_
ránhòu zhǔrèn yòu gēn wǒ shuō,_
486 ..<Q 噯呀其實呀在另外一個地方 hoN 也有舞弊案 Q>.\
<Q ai-ya qíshí ya zài lìngwài yíge dìfāng hoN yěyǒu wǔbì’àn Q>.\
487 ..也有舞--就說也有這個同樣一批人的舞弊案.\
yěyǒu wǔ--jiùshuō yěyǒu zhège tóngyàng yìpī-rén de wǔbì’àn.\
C: “I forced myself to stay awake and went out. The place I went to was the Examination Center where the scandal was reported to occur….I went to talk to the director. We talked, talked, talked.”
R: “Talked about the consequence of the scandal.”
C: “Talked about the consequence of the scandal. Then the director told me that, ‘Ai-ya, in fact, there is another scandal.’ Another scandal; in other words, another scandal done by the same group of people.”
In (21) Speaker C is a reporter describing how he scooped the scandal at the govern-ment examination center. He went there and had an interview with the director of the Examination Center. During the interview, the director used the qíshí construction at Line 486 to disclose yet another scandal.
If what is disclosed is an A-event about the speaker herself which she has kept secret for years, then what the speaker does with the qíshí construction is a confession, as further illustrated in (22):
(22) Singer 2
95 B: ..不對的時候,_
búduì de shíhòu,_
96 ..自己會很不好意思.\
zìjǐ huì hěn bùhǎoyìsi.\
97 ..但我一直到現在都還沒講,\
dàn wǒ yìzhí dào xiànzài dōu hái méi-jiǎng,\
98 ..其實雲河有一段,\
qíshí yúnhé yǒu yíduàn,\
99 ..有一個咬字,\
yǒu yíge yǎozì,\
(8 IUs omitted) 108 ..沒有捲舌,\
méiyǒu juǎnshé,\
109 ..可是呢,_
kěshì ne,_
110 ..可是劉家昌說,\
kěshì liújiāchāng shuō,\
111 ..<Q 嗯這次錄得很好 Q>.\
<Q unh, zhècì lù-de-hěn-hǎo Q>.\
112 ..那次我也不敢講,\
nàcì wǒ yě bùgǎn jiǎng,\
B: “When there was any error occurring, we would all feel very sorry. But there is something I had never told anyone about. In fact, in one of the stanzas in the song ‘Yúnhé’ (The Cloud River), I mis-pronounced one sound, which should have been a retroflex sound. But Liú Jiāchāng said,
‘Unh, very good.’ I dared not tell him this.”
In (22) Speaker B, a famous singer invited to a radio interview, is talking about the experience of recording an album in the early stage of her singing career. She mentions that her supervisor was so strict and picky that every staff member, as well as the singer herself, was afraid of him. If there were ever the slightest error or even minor mis-articulation made, recording would have to start all over again. At Line 98 she used a qíshí construction to disclose a secret which she said at 97 she had kept for years.
The excerpt below is another very interesting example in which there is no first move and the speaker J does the action of confession with the qíshí construction.
(23) Fire
7 F: …(0.96)你的這個火災的經驗,\
nǐ de zhège huǒzāi de jīngyàn,\
8 …是=[1 怎麼樣 1].\
shì=[1 zěmeyàng 1].\
9 J: [1 這個喔.\ 1]
[1 zhège oh.\1]
10 …這個要講到三年前了.\
zhège yào jiǎngdào sānnián qián le.\
11 F: ..三年前發生的.\
sānnián qián fāshēng de.\
12 J: ..heNh.\
13 F: …m.\
14 J: … (1.06) 那一=,_
nà yí=,_
15 ..eNh=,_
16 …那一次 hoN,\
nà yí cì hoN,\
17 F: ..unheN,_
18 J : ..其實是我=,_
qíshí shì wǒ=,_
19 …可能是我自己不小心啦.\
kěnéngshì wǒ zìjǐ bùxiǎoxīn la.\
F: “How was your experience of that fire?”
J: “Well, it was three years ago.”
F: “It happened three years ago.”
J: “HeNh.” F: “m.” J: “(1.06) Well, that time…in fact, it was I.. It probably was my carelessness that caused the fire.”
In (23), J is describing his own experience in a fire which was suspected to have been caused by someone’s careless handling of the gas heater, and a formal investigation by the police was undertaken. In other words, J was a victim but at the same time was the one who could have been charged with negligence for the accidental fire. Note that at Line 18 J first uses qíshí to start his talk, but then repairs and reformulates his descrip-tion with the epistemic expression kěnéngshì (可能是) “probably”, which indexes the speaker’s awareness of the confession function of the qíshí construction.